Hamburg Kunsthalle: art masterpieces spanning 700 years

There is no doubt that the three buildings belonging to the Hamburg Kunsthalle house one of the most important public art collections in Germany: perhaps the best place to discover connections, developments and trends in seven centuries of art history. The permanent exhibition of more than 700 works and alternating displays from the museum's holdings offer a unique insight into art from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Every one of the museum's collections is important in its own right but in combination they have an immense impact. The museum presents the medieval altars of Master Bertram and Master Francke, 17th century Dutch paintings and 19th century German paintings with extensive groups of works by Caspar David Friedrich, Philipp Otto Runge, Adolph Menzel and Max Liebermann. Works of the Classical Modernist period include paintings and sculptures by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Paul Klee, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Beckmann, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz and Max Ernst. The contemporary art section features alternating exhibitions, which have included Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Mona Hatoum and Jenny Holzer. The Department of Prints and Drawings comprises more than 120,000 works and is a museum in its own right. The Kunsthalle also runs the 'Museum At Home' initiative where art historians give their expert opinion on paintings (on canvas and wood), drawings and prints for a small fee.